Mini-Wind Turbine Science Kits:
Introducing middle schoolers to engineering and sustainability
Project Duration: June 2020 – August 2021
Project Leads: Alex Amimoto and Naomi Chau
Sponsors & Partners: Campus Sustainability Fund (csf.uw.edu) and Renton School District (middle schools).
Deliverables: 40 Mini-wind turbine science kits and a manual of instructions and educational prompts.
Project Leads: Alex Amimoto and Naomi Chau
Sponsors & Partners: Campus Sustainability Fund (csf.uw.edu) and Renton School District (middle schools).
Deliverables: 40 Mini-wind turbine science kits and a manual of instructions and educational prompts.
The aim of this project is to encourage students to explore engineering and sustainability as a possible university major and eventual career. We delivered 40 science kits total to four Renton School District middle schools. Each science kit allows students to build a working mini-wind turbine that generates electricity. Through this hands-on experience, students will design, manufacture, test and iterate on their mini-wind turbine's blades, thus experiencing the engineering design process. In addition, educational prompts will teach students about different engineering majors, as well as an introduction to sustainability.
At first, we planned on using pvc pipes to build the wind turbine's base. However, in our subsequent designs we switched to wood which is more sustainable and cheap to source. For the final deliverables, we repurposed wood pallets from local stores (The planks in the fourth image are from these repurposed pallets).
The first two image in the slide shows one of our designs of the mini-wind turbines, while the next image shows the design built; a working prototype. Figure 4 shows another mini-wind turbine design. This design was chosen by our partner school for the final deliverable due to ease of storage. The next image shows several project members during build day. The two document images are snippets from the kits' instructional guide. Lastly is a photo of a complete kit! Each box can make 10 mini wind turbines, and we put together 4 boxes.
Coming soon (hopefully) images of the kits in use by students!
The first two image in the slide shows one of our designs of the mini-wind turbines, while the next image shows the design built; a working prototype. Figure 4 shows another mini-wind turbine design. This design was chosen by our partner school for the final deliverable due to ease of storage. The next image shows several project members during build day. The two document images are snippets from the kits' instructional guide. Lastly is a photo of a complete kit! Each box can make 10 mini wind turbines, and we put together 4 boxes.
Coming soon (hopefully) images of the kits in use by students!